Water deaeration



June 6, 1939. 1.. M. GOLDSMITH WATER DEAERATION Fi Ied Feb. 16, 1938INVENTOR LESTER M. GOLDSMITH ATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1939 I UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE WATER DEAERATION i Application February 16, 1938,Serial No. 190,737

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to the deaeration of sea-water which maybe employed as a cooling medium for ships condensers, and relates moreparticularly to apparatus for accomplishing the removal of air entrainedin sea-water taken aboard ship.

A principal object of this invention is the removal of entrained airfrom sea-water which may be employed as circulating water for shipscondensers, engines, coolers, sanitary system or as water supply forships evaporators. Since corrosion of condensing equipment, evaporators,

coolers and the like appears to be due, at least in part, to the actionof air or oxygen contained in 5 sea-water, it is an object of thisinvention to remove, in a simple and economical manner, a substantialproportion of the air from the sea-water prior to use thereof aboardship.

A further object of this invention is the provision of adeaerating'chamber so fabricated as to utilize, to the maximum extentand with the least alteration, portions of the normal structure of 4 theship. I

My invention may be illustrated with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, wherein Figure 1 shows, diagrammatically, a'plan view of mydeaerating chamber;

Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section of the chamber, taken along theline X-X of Fig. 1,

.30 and;

Figure 3 shows a transverse section of the chamber, taken along the lineY-Y of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, in which corresponding elements are similarlynumbered, there is provided a water-tightdeaerating chamber (Fig. 1)defined by the lines A, B, C,'D, E; F, G and H, between the shipsdouble-bottom, the upper bottom of which is designated as I, the lowerbottom as 2, and the ships side as 3. Such chamber may be of anyconvenient size and shape to suit the structural and machineryarrangements of the ship, and is not necessarily limited to the contourshown in the drawing. Preferably the chamber is located under or nearthe ships equipment 5 being supplied with water so that deaerated watermay be supplied from the chamber to said equipment with a minimumexpenditure of energy. In constructing the chamber, use is made of thetransverse frames 4 which are part of the ships normal structure, 1. e.,those frames together with solid walls BC, DE and F-G and the ships sideAH define the chamber A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H and form solid,water-tight walls between the upper and lower portions of thedouble-bot- 55 tom. The frames 4 or portions thereof which lie withinthe chamber (Fig. .1) are provided (Fig. 3) with perforations oropenings 5, whereby free circulation of water within the chamber ispermitted, and are further provided (Fig. 3) with openings 6 adjacentthe top thereof and beneath the upper bottom I to permit freecirculation of air de-entrained from the sea-water.

. In order to bring sea water into the deaerating chamber there isprovided externally of the chamber a sea chest 1 opening into the seathrough the lower bottom 2. Such sea chest is connected to thedeaerating chamber by means of a gate valve 8 and a conduit 9, saidconduit preferably having a progressively increasing cross-sectionalarea from said valve to the point of juncture with said chamber. Thedivergent shape of the conduit 9 causes a diminution of velocity of thesea-water entering through the sea-chest and assists ineffectingde-entrainment of air taken in with'the sea-water.

The deaerating chamber is additionally provided with circulating pumpsH] for withdrawing deaerated water from the chamber and supplying sameto the ships condenser system. In order to remove from the chamber airwhich has been deentrained from the incoming sea-water, there areprovided one or more vent pipes II which communicate with said chamberthrough the upper bottom I and extend upwardly a sufficient distance tobe safely above the ships water-line. Access to the deaerating chamberis attained through a water-tight manhole l2 in the top of thechamber, 1. e., the upper-bottom I. To facilitate removal ofsubstantially all the sea-water contained in the chamber in the eventthat it becomes necessary to inspect or repair the chamber, a suctionpipe I2 is provided and may be connected to a bilge pump (not shown).

In the operation of the deaerating chamber, a controlled quantity ofsea-water containing entrained air is continuously or intermittentlyadmitted into the chamber by means of the sea chest I, valve 8 andconduit 9. 'Within the chamber, the water, by reason of the relativelylarge volume of the chamber and by impingement against the chamber wallsand the perforated frames, is brought to a state sufficiently quiescentthat entrained air bubblescoalesce and pass from the water into the airspace above the water level in the chamber. The tie-entrained aircollectin above the water is removed from the upper portion of thechamber by means of the vent pipes 9, and the deaerated water iswithdrawn from the chamber by means of circulating pumps I0 and passedto the ships condensers as acooling medium, or otherwise utilized asnecessity dictates. In this manner a substantial quantity of the airentrained in the sea-water brought aboard ship is removed, therebyeffecting a decrease in corrosion of ships equipment utilizing suchdeaerated water.

When in the appended claims, the term seawater is employed, it is to beunderstood to mean water from any source that may be employed for thepurposes described, whether it be salt water or fresh water.

What I claim is:

1. In ship construction, means for deaerating sea-water comprising awater-tight chamber formed between the ships double-bottom, avalve-controlled conduit connecting said chamber with the sea, a pumpassociated with said chamber for withdrawing deaerated sea-Watertherefrom, perforated frames disposed within said chamber to assistde-entrainment of air from sea-water impinging thereupon, and a vent forremoving from said chamber air de-entrained from said sea-water.

2. In ship construction, means for deaerating sea-water comprising awater-tight chamber formed between the ships double bottom, a seachestadjacent said chamber and opening into the sea, a valve-controlledconduit connecting said sea-chest with said chamber, a pump associatedwith said chamber for withdrawing deaerated sea-water therefrom, and a.vent for removing from said chamber air de-entrained from saidsea-water.

3. In ship construction, means for deaerating sea-water comprising awater-tight chamber formed between the ships double-bottom, a seachestadjacent said chamber and opening into the sea, a valve-controlledconduit connecting said.

sea-chest with said chamber, transverse perforated frames disposedwithin said chamber to assist de-entrainment of air from sea-waterimpinging thereupon, and a vent for removing from said chamber airde-entrained from said sea water.

4. In ship construction, means for deaerating sea-water comprising awater-tight chamber formed between the ships double-bottom, a seachestadjacent said chamber and opening into the sea, a valve-controlledconduit connecting said sea-chest with said chamber, said conduit havinga progressively increasing crosssectional area from said valve to thepoint of juncture with said chamber, frames comprising a portion of the'ships double-bottom structure extending transversely across saidchamber, said frames being provided with perforations to permit freecirculation of sea-water and de-entrained air in said chamber, and avent for removing from said chamber air de-entrained from saidsea-Water.

5. In ship construction, an inner bottom, an outer bottom, water-tightwalls between said bottoms forming a deaerating chamber, avalvecontrolled conduit connecting said chamber with the sea, a pumpassociated with said chamber for withdrawing deaerated sea-watertherefrom, frames within said chamber extending between said inner andouter bottoms and dividing said chamber into a plurality ofcompartments, openings in said frames to permit circulation of seawaterbetween said compartments, openings in the upper portion of said framesadjacent the inner bottom to permit circulation of air between saidcompartments, and a vent connected to the upper portion of saiddeaerating chamber, whereby air deentrained from the sea-water may passfrom said chamber.

6. In ship construction, an inner bottom, an outer bottom, water-tightwalls between said bottoms forming a deaerating chamber, said watertightwalls comprising, in part, normal frame structure of said ship, avalve-controlled conduit connecting said chamber with the sea, a pumpassociated with said chamber for withdrawing deaerated sea-watertherefrom; frames within said chamber extending between said inner andouter bottoms and dividing said chamber into a plurality ofcompartments, openings in 'said frames to permit circulation ofsea-water between said compartments, openings in the upper portion ofsaid frames adjacent the inner bottom to permit circulation of airbetween said compartments, and a vent connected to the upper portion ofsaid deaerating chamber, whereby air de-entrained from the sea-water maypass from said chamber.

LESTER M. GOLDSMITH.

